Diaper panty and the like



Mar ch3, 1970 M/C. GALLAGHER DIAPERPANTY AND wnmuxn Filed Oct 5, 1966INVENTOR MARION C- GALLAGHER BYM f M ATTORNEY J United States Patent3,498,296 DIAPER PANTY AND THE LIKE Marion C. Gallagher, 2415 FoxhallRoad NW., Washington, D.C. 20007 Filed Oct. 3, 1966, Ser. No. 583,807Int. Cl. A61f 13/16 US. Cl. 128284 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adiaper is provided consisting of a pair of opposed sheet-like elementsat least one of which is water adsorbent. The pair of opposed sheets aredivided into a central portion and a pair of end portions and thecentral portion is provided with a batt of non-water-wettable fibrousmaterial such as Dacron and the fibrous material is generallyimmobilized in the central portion by suitable quilting.

The present invention relates to a diaper panty such as that used forinfants, although it is not meant to limit the scope of the inventionthereto since it is apparent that the diaper panty of the presentinvention may be utilized in other ways.

In accordance with the present invention, a diaper is provided that hasthe usual or conventional cotton or other absorbent layers, and isfurther provided with a portion or section that utilizes generallynon-wetting fibers as the means for storing a large quantity of fluid ata position remote from the skin of the wearer.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a diaper panty orsimilar article which has a quilted batt of generally non-absorbentfibers disposed in the central portion of the diaper and secured betweena double walled absorbent fabric diaper.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a double walledfabric diaper comprising two layers of cloth material such as cotton andthe like between which is disposed a plurality of generallynon-absorbent fibers which fibers are further disposed in a quiltedarrangement so that the batt of fibers is maintained uniformlythroughout the central portion of the diaper and will not inadvertentlybunch up into one section or portion of the diaper.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a noveldiaper that has a mat or mass of. generally non-absorbent or hydrophobicfibers disposed in the area where the main liquid or fiuid retainingfunction takes place along the large surface area of the fibers and sucha diaper wherein the retained fluids can be easily removed or flushedtherefrom when the diaper is washed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a diaper havinga central section or portion made of a batt of generallynon-water-Wetting fibers such as Dacron or nylon, or similar materialwherein the liquid to be retained will stay upon the surface of thelarge number of fibers disposed in the batt so that the diaper may bereadily washed to remove the retained liquid therefrom and wherein thewashed article has fast drying properties.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will bereadily apparent from the following detailed description when consideredin connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof andin which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the diaper embodying the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the diaper of the present invention witha portion of the quilted central portion 3,498,296 Patented Mar. 3, 1970being cut away to illustrate the generally non-water-wetting fiberscontained therein; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section taken along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 generally designatesthe diaper panty of the present invention and is provided with twolayers of absorbent fabric material or cloth such as. cotton and thelike comprising an upper or top layer '12 and a lower layer 14. Theupper and lower layers of cotton fabric material 12 and 14 are stitchedtogether along the perimeters thereof. as indicated by the dotted line16 in FIGURE 2. The diaper is provided with outer sections or portions18 and 20 adjacent the opposite ends of the diaper and a central sectionor portion 22. In the illustrated form of the invention the threesections are substantially equal in area or size.

The central portion 22. is provided with a batt or mat of generallynon-water-wetting fiber material 24, as best seen in FIGURE 2. Thefibrous material is preferably Dacron or nylon but it may comprise othersimilar materials having similar non-water absorbing characteristics andproperties. Non-Water-wetting fibers such as Dacron and nylon have thecharacteristic or property of being non-water absorbent from thestandpoint that water generally does not penetrate the fibers. However,nylon or Dacron have the characteristic of permitting a liquid to wickalong its surface and in this manner a batt of such fibrous materialwill retain or hold a large quantity of liquid upon its large surfacearea when disposed in a batt arrangement.

The central portion 22 of the diaper is quilted into a plurality ofsquares or a checkerboard arrangement by transversely extending rows ofstitches 26 and longitudinally extending rows of stitches 28 togenerally immobilize the fibers of the batt and to generally maintainthe illustrated arrangement of the batt and the absorbent fabricmaterial 12.

Referring to FIGURE 3 it will be seen that the stitches 26 permit thecentral portion to be divided into, for example, individual small squarebatts or zones 30. The provision of the quilted pattern provides auniform distribution of the individual fibers of the batt so that it ismaintained in a fixed position and the thickness of the diaper isgenerally uniformly maintained.

It is, of course, realized that any desired quilted arrangement may beused in the central portion of the diaper and the thickness of the battof fibers may be variously changed from that illustrated in the drawing.Very satisfactory results have been obtained with a batt thickness offrom about one-half to about three-fourths inch.

Thus from the foregoing description it is apparent that the presentinvention provides a novel diaper panty or garment that may be utilizedin medical or surgical cases for adsorbing liquid by utilizing theprinciple of a wick ing action on generally non-wettable fibrous battmaterial while at the same time maintaining the fibrous batt materialbetween absorbent layers of material which are soft against the bodysuch as cotton or other such similar fabric cloth material.

It is further apparent that the present invention provides a diaperpanty that can be readily washed without the use of excessive detergentsince the liquid retained in the diaper arrangement is disposed on thesurface of the indi vidual fibers and does not penetrate them as itnormally does in the case of non-hydrophobic fibrous material.

While a preferred form of the present invention has been described andillustrated various modifications may be made therein without loss ofthe beneficial properties of the diaper, for example, the outer face ofthe diaper may comprise a water impervious sheet or a portion of theouter fabric material may be coated or covered with a water impervioussheet material or composition;

What is claimed is:

1. A diaper and the like comprising two opposed sheets of cottonmaterial divided into a generally quadrangular central portion and endportions, said central portion between said cotton sheet consistingsolely of a quadrangular mass of non-water-wettable fibrousmaterial, andquilting securing said fibrous material in said central portion betweenthe opposed sheetsof cotton.

2. The diaper of claim 1 wherein the mass of fibrous material comprisesa batt disposed in a quilted arrange ment in said central portion.

3. The diaper of'claim 2-,wherein the fibrous'material consists ofDacron fibers.

Nelson 128--287 Andrews 128287 Tomlinson 128284 Woodward 128284 Davis128284 Arnold et a1. l28-287 Morse 128-296 Great Britain.

15 CHARLES FIAROSENBAUM, Primary Examiner

